Knowledge of gravitational acceleration in metrology is required for
traceable force and pressure calibrations, furthermore the redefinition
of the SI base unit of kilogram requires absolute accomplishment of the
gravitational acceleration. A direct free-fall gravimeter is developed
using pneumatic grippers for test mass handling and a semi-rotary
actuator for repositioning, i.e. automated re-launching. The catch and
release system is powered by compressed air. This eliminates electric
interferences around the test mass. A simplified method of signal
capturing and processing is used on the designed gravimeter. A digital
frequency trigger is implemented in the post processing algorithms to
ensure that the signals are analysed from the identical effective
height. The experimental results measured the site gravitational
acceleration of 9.786043 ms2 with a statistical uncertainty of 29
ms2.